The Laurel Tree
by YumYums
Summary: Because even though Cupid can bring joy, he can bring much sorrow as well. *Based off of Apollo and Daphne's story*


***So I am really into Greek Mythology and I just really love the story of Apollo and Daphne even though it's tragic in the end so I wanted to make a NaLu type version of it. Enjoy~***

The Celestial Forest was a vast piece of land. From maple to birch to high oaks, trees of all kinds grew without disturbance. Ponds to streams to even a waterfall was scattered everywhere in the great Forest. Animals that ranged from everyday squirrels to deers to the great tigers roamed the forest with ease. This was their home. The air was always humid, coating the grass along the forest floor with morning dew. The leafy smell that seemed to have a calming affect on every thing here soothed those who hiked through the various paths of the Celestial Forest. It was a blessed piece of land. Celestial derived from the old Latin word "caelum" meaning "heaven." It only made sense, since the forest was created by the gods themselves.

Speaking of gods, the god of archery, Natsu, was strolling through the forest right now. His signature bow was slung over his shoulder, quiver full of arrows on his back. He swiftly and quietly ran through the forest with ease. He hunted here often, hence why he knew the forest like the back of his hand. Occasionally, tree nymphs would come out and greet him as he passed by. He sighed in content as he ran. The wind rushing through his hair was a blessing to him. Being the god of sun, it could often get hot and not only that, he would get very busy at times. He chuckled lowly. Well, he mused, it was his fault for taking up so many jobs at once. He was the god of poetry, medicine, music, truth, prophecy, disease (which was odd since he was also god of medicine) academia, archery and most importantly, he was god of the mighty Sun.

He felt a prick of pride. He was the one who controlled when the Sun would rise, when it would set, when it would blaze brightly or shine with a dim light through the seasons. He remember once when Michelle, the goddess of harvest and one of the minor gods, scolded him and even hit him for drying her plants and crops. He got a scolding from his father too but he couldn't help but to continue his pranks. He finally stopped when his father took away his archer's bow, his getaway from all his godly duties.

He heard a twig crunch under weight and stopped in his place, focusing on where the sound came from. A quick as lightning a deer ran out in front of him and then ran away. Natsu felt a grin overtake his face. "Yosh! To the east it is!" He cheered, chasing after the deer. He expertly dodged fallen branches, low branches and leaves of trees and shrubs that stood in his way. He took the bow off from his shoulder and quickly nocked an arrow. Handcrafted by the way. he never took his eyes off the prey and in one fluid motion, he readied the arrow, aimed, and then fired.

The arrow sailed gracefully through the air and Natsu grinned as it hit it's intended target. He slung the bow back over to it's original position on his shoulder and hopped over to the fallen deer. Saying a quick prayer of thanks, he yanked the arrow out of the flesh, cringing slightly when it came out with blood. That's the hunting life for you.

He grunted as he picked up the animal and made his way back to where he came from. However, before he could make it far, he could hear tiny squeals, as if something or someone was being tortured. Setting down his catch, he furrowed his eyebrows. Natsu, pushed some pink locks out from his face and then slowly began to make his way over to the source of the sound. Upon his arrival though, he quickly grew angered.

"Romeo! What do you think you're doing?" He shouted, and in three long strides, he ripped the bloodied arrow out from the boy's hands. He looks down at the tiny cub and placed his hands over the wound. In a quick flash of blue, the wound closed and the cub had stopped squealing. Then, a large tigress emerged from the bushes and lept over to her child. Picking up the cub by the scruff, she ran away. Natsu turned back to the young boy with a hard frown on his face.

"Romeo, what were you doing?" Natsu asked, this time calmly, although his anger was still evident. The dark haired boy didn't say anything but simply looked to the ground with a pout on his face. After moments of silence, Natsu simply sighed. "I'm going to take away your arrows. You're still too young to use war weapons and from what just happened, I suggest you to not use them till I deem it fit for you to get it back," Natsu said firmly. Romeo's head snapped up and his eyes grew wide. "You can't do that!" He protested, stomping his foot in frustration.

"Oh yeah I can. I'm the god of archery and if I want to take away your arrows, then I will," Natsu said, his arms crossed over his chest. "But Mother gave them to me!" The young boy whined. Natsu clicked his tongue in annoyance. Damn that Cana. "Look kid, I don't care if Cana gave them to you, but you will obey me understood? What you were doing was wrong and you're not even old enough to be wielding war weapons." Without giving the boy any other choice, he grabbed the rest of the arrows in his quiver and placed it in his own.

"When I feel like you're up to it, I can give you archery lessons. Only learn from the best," Natsu grinned. However, Romeo was not amused in the slightest. Natsu sighed and waved good-bye to him anyways. "Catch ya later kid," he called out.

Romeo clenched his teeth but then an idea popped into his head and he grinned devilishly. He stuck his hand into his robe and produced two arrows. One of strong affection, love, and the other of repulsion, hatred. He wasn't stupid, in fact, nobody in Olympus was stupid. Everyone knew that the mighty god of sun had a thing for the lovely muse, Lucy. She was not one of the nine but one could argue that she was better and more beautiful then any of them. She was offered the position however, she refused, saying she was content the way she was.

He wasn't sure how Natsu met her, but from the first time he laid his eyes upon her, he was hooked.

As quietly as possible, he extended his small wings and flew through the trees. Quickly spotting the pink haired god making his way to Lucy, no doubt, Romeo nocked the love arrow into his bow. He shook his head. For the god of academia, Natsu was sure stupid. "Ready, aim, and fire," Romeo said to himself quietly. He struck gold. The arrow landed right where Natsu's heart was. The arrow itself was strong, however, if struck in the heart, it's magic increased ten fold. He was as Natsu stumbled a little and giggled quietly to himself.

Natsu suddenly stumbled forward a bit. His breathing became ragged and his chest felt as if it were on fire. His vision grew quite hazy and then, as if on impulse, he dropped the deer and took off running. _Where am I going?_ He thought to himself. _More importantly, why is my chest so hot? What is this feeling?_ He was panting by now and he still had no idea where his feet was taking him to. Unknown to him, Romeo, better known as Cupid or Eros, was hovering over him, following him through the Celestial Forest.

Natsu eventually skidded to a stop and once he had settled down, he finally realized where he was. The large laurel tree in front of him told him immediately.

"Natsu? What a nice surprise," the blonde nymph said cheerfully, walking over to him. The blonde had flowers in her arms, nursing them. "Lucy," he mumbled, his vision growing hazy once again. Romeo above was having so much fun. His grin turned almost evil when he placed the next arrow on his bow. His wings kept him steady in the air as he lifted the bow to eye level. With little strength used, he pulled back the bow and took his aim. The blonde was unsuspecting. With a laugh, Romeo let the arrow sail and watched in satisfaction as it hit its target, Lucy.

Lucy let out a gasp and she dropped the flowers she was nursing before, scattering them on the forest floor. There was a growing feeling in her heart, anger and resentment was bubbling up in her. Hatred. Without a doubt. She looked at the male in front of her and was overcome by a wave of what could only be described as raw hatred. She took a step back.

"Lucy, Lucy, Lucy," Natsu chanted.

The god was sporting a goofy grin on his face. "I love you Lucy!" He declared proudly, moving in to hug her. Lucy jumped back. "N-no! Get away from me!" She screeched, slowly retreating as the pink haired god continued to walk to her. "But Lucy, I love you," he whined, a loving look in his eyes, a silly grin on his face. "Well I don't like you so leave!" She commanded harshly. Natsu, unaffected by her cruel words just continued to walk towards her.

Lucy seeing that her words weren't doing any good, she did the only thing she could think of. She ran. She ran through the forest with a pounding heart to get away from the god that was chasing her. "Wait, come back here Lucy! I'm the god of music and archery and the mighty Sun! Come back here!" He shouted as he chased after her. He dropped his bow and his quiver, the arrows falling out of the round container as he dropped it carelessly.

Somewhere above, Cupid was laughing and clapping his hand as he saw his uncle chase the blonde haired beauty through the large Celestial Forest. Revenge was sweet, he decided.

Meanwhile, Lucy was still running away from the love struck god. She knew that she couldn't outrun him for long, he was physically much more fit than she was. With no way out, she turned to the only person she could go to. She took a sharp turn and thanked the gods when she heard the sound of rushing water. That thankfulness was replaced by panic when she heard Natsu's heavy footsteps right behind her. "Come back to me Lucy! I love you so much! I promise I'll treat you well!"

She felt a burst of energy and she pushed herself forward and fell. She heard the god's rushed footsteps.

"Oh Father, please save me!" She prayed, tears streaming down her face.

The River Guardian, Jude, rose up out of the water to see his daughter on the ground by his waterfall and the Sun God, Natsu, make it into the clearing. "Stand up my child," he urged her. Lucy stood up, her eyes wide with frantic panic.

Jude took a deep breath and began to mutter an enchantment.

Natsu's eyes grew wide and rushed forward. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," he yelled. He turned to her father. "Stop! By the command of the Sun God, I command you to stop this instance!" He screamed. Jude simply ignored him and continued. "Lucy!" Natsu wailed. Her feet and lower legs were becoming bark, rooted to the ground. The rest of her lower body was already engulfed and seeing as her father wouldn't stop no matter what, Natsu, trembling, wrapped his arms around his blonde muse for the final time.

He pulled back a bit to see that Lucy was crying and he gently pressed his lips to hers for the first and final time. "I love you," he said, his voice cracking. Tears rolled down his cheeks and Lucy didn't say anything. But before she completely was engulfed, he could see the tiniest of smiles on her face. The River Guardian slipped back down and the day became quiet.

Romeo, who had witnessed the whole thing, felt his heart pound loudly in his chest. He never meant for any of this to happen! It was a simple prank to get at him back, it wasn't supposed to turn out like this!

Natsu finally let out a heart breaking sob, leaning against the laurel tree in sorrow. A gentle breeze passed by the waterfall, as if comforting him. The branches above him swayed gently, and he felt the leaves brush against his tear stained cheeks. He opened his eyes and carefully touched the leaves. It could have been him but he swore he felt the tree shudder.

"It has been decided," he declared, his voice still thick with emotions. "The Laurel Tree is my holy tree. Any offense to it is an open offense to the Sun God and will be punished as I deem fit. People blessed by me will wear it's leaves in pride, a crown above crowns."

And, as he carefully wove the branches and leaves into a splendid crown, he could hear Lucy's gentle, mirth filled laughter in the opening.

 **Phew! Finally done! I really like the Apollo and Daphne story and I also really like NaLu. I hope everyone enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Ciao!**

 _ **~Glitter**_


End file.
